A goal in the 51st minute from David Drake was the key score as Cork IT began their campaign with a win.

The hosts opened up a two-point lead of 0-9 to 0-7 when corner-forward Drake won a delivery from Micheal Russell and fired past goalkeeper Aaron Murphy.

Buoyed by that, CIT battled to the finish and can now guarantee a home quarter-final if they beat GMIT next week. However, for long periods this game was in the balance and underdogs LIT could have snatched it.

The Davy Fitzgerald-managed side kept things tight in the first half, the end of which the scoreboard read 0-3 each.

After the restart, the game opened up a bit more, with John O'Dwyer on song from frees for CIT, while first-half substitute Jamie Coughlan was having a significant impact on proceedings.

Points from those two put them two clear and when Drake found the net, they were not going to be denied.